Promise
by delenafantasy
Summary: One-shot. Character death warning. A story I wrote for a contest about an unnamed character you can imagine (an OC, another character, even yourself) and their life over a few years with Danny from the day they met to the day tragedy strikes. First story in a long time, so it may have a lot of problems. Either way, I hope you enjoy it! Reviews are welcome(:


I haven't wrote a fanfic for a very long time. I actually wrote this for a DP fanfic contest but I decided to upload it here cause why not? Anyway I hope you guys like it. I'm a bit rusty because I haven't written a real fanfic and like what...2 or 3 years? I don't know but here you go!

Also you can imagine practically anyone you want (except maybe Sam cause I do mention her as his friend. You can ignore that if you want to though and imagine her anyway).

I made this story in a very specific way so you could imagine a character from the series, an OC, or even yourself if you want to. It's written so the main character has no name and no description of what they look like. I hope that's not too awful and weird.

Enjoy!

* * *

The first time I saw him, I was 9 years old. I was standing by a window, observing the tiny snowflakes landing on the sill. Each one was its own beautifully crafted unique shape, and that always seemed to intrigue me. I pressed my face against to cool glass to get a better look but was quickly distracted when I saw a glowing green flash from the corner of my eye. I snapped my head to the right to see a boy who looked around 14 with hair white as snow and eyes as green as fresh summer grass, but strangely they were glowing. I had never seen anything like him before. Snowflakes forgotten, I looked closer to see that he was with a puppy, a translucent glowing green puppy. My childlike wonder got the best of me as I grabbed my tattered purple coat and ran out into the crisp winter air. I looked around the snow and pine trees for the strange boy with the glowing green eyes, but I didn't see him anywhere. My hope to find him refused to falter as I ran into the endless forest in front of me. I always loved the forest behind the home in winter; it was beautiful to see the pine trees covered in snow and crystal ice. Though at this particular moment, I couldn't focus on the beauty of the nature in front of me. No, my thoughts were occupied with snow white hair and glowing green eyes. I had to find the boy, and as my little feet trudged through the thick snow, I promised myself I wouldn't give up until I did.

I would say I should've known better than to go after the unknown, but I was only 9 living in a poorly kept orphanage with nothing but my imagination to keep me going. I didn't understand then, but we had no money. Our orphanage was run by the government who seemed to have forgotten about us; either that or they just didn't care. There were only 10 of us, and nobody ever visited or tried for an adoption. The only caregiver we had was this little old lady, , who looked over us. She had wrinkles around her eyes and age lines littering her face. Her old withered body took a good 15 minutes every morning just to get out of bed; but no matter what she would always make sure we were alright. She cared for us, cooked our meals, changed our diapers, and she did this all with her own money. Sometimes I wondered if I was in an orphanage at all, or if this was just a lonely woman who took us all in under the false pretense that we were at an orphanage. It didn't really matter to me either way, because this woman had cared for me all of my so far life. She loved us, and we loved her; but no matter how much love we had to go around there was still 10 of us, and 3 of us were under the age of 2. I was of the older bunch at the age of 9, and I was left to do most things on my own. may have been a lovely old woman, but she was no miracle worker. She had to devote the majority of her time to the younger ones, the babies. While at the mere age of 9 I could understand that, it didn't make it any easier. Thus my imagination and yearning for adventure was my outlet, the spark that lit up my otherwise dull and depressing life, even if I didn't realize how awful my life was at the time.

This strange boy that had escaped into the forest was the most intriguing thing I had ever seen, thus peaking my interest immensely, or at least as much as you can peak the interest of an easily distracted 9 year old. As I swatted pine tree branches out of the way with my little hands, I heard a voice to my left and what sounded like small whimpering. I turned in the direction of the noises and started running as fast as my little feet would carry me, eager to see more of this mystery boy. When I was in sight of the boy and his, or I assumed his, puppy, I made sure to hide behind a tree as I observed him. He was petting the small unnaturally colored puppy. I smiled at the two, they looked so happy together. It didn't really occur to me that the boy looks transparent like the dog, or why they looked transparent. It didn't occur to me to question how weird they looked or why they were there, I was just happy watching a boy and his pup playing together. It was a sweet sight that I longed to be a part of someday with my own family with my own dog. The boy picked up a stick and threw it far as the pup wagged his tail in excitement and chased the piece of wood. The pup took a bit long, and the white haired boy look confused and worried, he started taking a step in the direction he threw the stick when a big fluffy ball of green pounced out of the trees and tackled the boy to the ground, taking him completely by surprise. I couldn't suppress my giggle at that, but apparently I was a bit too loud. The boy tensed up and the pup stood defensively in front of him and started to growl.

"Is someone there?" The boy said aloud, but I stayed safe in my hiding spot. I tried not to make a sound; I even held my breath thinking somehow that would help me stay quiet. The pup's growls grew louder and he started to sniff the ground, coming closer to my hiding spot behind the pine trees. The pup's eyes glanced upwards in my direction and I had never felt more terrified. Sure, he was just a pup but that didn't take away the fear I felt from being discovered spying on the two. Not to mention puppy teeth can be pretty sharp.

"It's okay Cujo, it was probably just the wind or something. No big deal, we're safe." The boy smiled and called the pup back over to him. The pup, Cujo, turned around and started to walk back towards the boy, his tongue lolling out of his mouth happily. At the relief of not being caught, I let out the breath I had been holding in. I didn't realize I would be so loud. The moment the exhale left my mouth Cujo snapped his head around so fast that it gave _me_ whiplash. Before I could even blink, the small pup had run up and pounced on me, knocking the air out of my lungs and sending me tumbling to the ground. I landed with a big "ooof" and opened my eyes to see two bright red ones staring into mine. Cujo was standing on top of me, pinning me down. Now that may seem pathetic to some people, but I was only 9! Plus Cujo could've laid off of the dog biscuits if you catch my drift.

"Get off of me!" I yelled to the dog, but he just stood atop me staring me down, drooling on my already pathetic excuse of a coat.

"Whoa whoa Cujo! She's just a girl, lay off." The strange boy yelled to his pup, but Cujo stayed put. The boy walked up to myself and the pup and gently pulled Cujo off of me, then extended a gloved hand to help me up. When I stood up, I got a closer look at him. He really did have snow white hair, each strand shockingly bright against the night sky. He wore a strange outfit for such a cold night, a tight black suit made out of some odd material I didn't know. He had gloves, boots, a collar, and a belt as white as his hair with a logo that kind of looked like a P inside of a D. His eyes, though, I wasn't wrong about them. I know they had looked like they were glowing green, but maybe that was just the way the light was outside and the angle I was standing when I first saw him. Now look up close, I saw that his eyes really were glowing green. Truly glowing. I was mesmerized by the strange boys eyes, I found myself lost in them. I had never seen anything like him before, he didn't even seem human.

"Are you alright?" I was snapped out of my thoughts by his voice.

"What are you?" it had slipped out, I hadn't really meant for it to. I had that problem a lot. I always said what I was thinking, like I had no, as would say, "filter". I had been doing it ever since I could talk and it's gotten me into a lot of trouble. has been working with me on that problem, but I've yet to perfect this whole "filter" thing.

"What am I?" The strange boy looked at me, confused.

"Yes, what are you? And don't tell me you're a person, because you don't fool me! Normal people don't look like you do. You have strange glowing eyes and a glowing puppy."

"Well it's simple really…I'm a ghost." The boy said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"A ghost? That's impossible, ghosts aren't real! told me so! You're a liar!" I shouted as I pointed an accusing finger at the boy. Of course I felt as if I were the most intimidating person on the planet in the moment, when in reality I probably looked about as harmful as a puppy.

"I'm not sure who is, but I assure you I'm not a liar. I really am a ghost, watch and see!" the boy said and he did the most magnificent things. He flew, shot green laser looking things out his hands I later learned were ectoplasm, froze things, duplicated himself, turned invisible, and a handful of other things. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, I couldn't stop staring in awe at every little thing he did. I had even completely forgotten about the strange green pup until it barked and flew up to the ghost boy and licked his face in joy. The ghost boy laughed and floated down next to me, carrying the strange pup.

"Wow." I looked up at him, mystified by everything this boy could do. He didn't seem like a ghost, he seemed pretty normal to me except for his strange powers. I could even touch him, unless he did that weird invisible thingy I didn't understand.

"You're the weirdest ghost I've ever seen. You're hardly a ghost at all!"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Danny." The ghost boy smiled and held out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Danny." I smiled back and shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too. I have to go now, I'm actually on patrol around the city. Have to make sure everyone is safe and such!"

"Will you come see me again?" I asked, hope filling my tiny heart.

"Of course I will."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise. I'll come see you every week at this spot at this same time. Just come meet me here."

"Okay!" I smiled at him, and he started to fly off before I stopped him.

"How do I know I can believe you?"

"I never break a promise."

* * *

I was 14 when Danny told me his secret. We had become incredibly close since that night 4 years ago when we had first met. Danny kept true to his promise and would visit me in the same spot every week. Then one visit started to turn into more visits, and more visits during the day, and then those visits ended up happening at the orphanage, at school, and various other places. Despite that, we always made sure to meet in that same spot in the same forest at the same time once a week on the same day we had met. It was our little tradition, really. Danny taught me more about his ghost powers and how everything worked for him, and he even brought Cujo with him every so often.

Danny hadn't told me much about himself other than basics and things about his ghost powers. I learned his last name, ironically, is Phantom. He wanted to be an astronaut in his human life, his favorite color is blue, and he loves food. He's not too great at school, and he can be a bit shy but he's such a carefree and good person. As much as I knew about him personally, I didn't know anything about his past like his family or anything. Sometimes I would bring it up, but Danny would quickly avoid it and change the subject.

One day, I confronted him about it. About the fact I didn't know about his past life and how he would always avoid telling me. It was a warm spring day, we were both lying in the grass watching clouds, which is actually pretty boring, while Cujo was running around chasing god knows what.

"Why don't you tell me anything?" I casually asked, but it still caught his attention. He shot straight up into a sitting position, his features confused.

"What do you mean?" I couldn't help the annoyed look that crossed my face as I sat up, too. He knew what I meant, he just didn't like it.

"You know what I mean. You never tell me about your past, about your family and who you used to be. You avoid the subject every single time I ask. I've told you everything there is to know about me, from my tragic childhood down to how many pairs of pants I own. I don't understand why you can't tell me about yourself in return, I just want to get to know you. You're my only real friend, and the closest thing I have to family."

"You're right, and I'm sorry. I should've told you from the start, it's not fair to you that I hid it for this long."

"Hid what?"

"This." Before I could process anything, the ghost boy in front of me was engulfed in a whiteish blue light that took over his entire body and as soon as it came it was gone like nothing had happened. Except something _had_ happened. I was no longer looking at the ghost boy I had come to known and care for, but now a similar looking stranger with jet black hair and bright ocean blue eyes. I couldn't even speak.

"Kind of a lot to take in, I know. Okay well first off, my real name is Danny Fenton. Danny Phantom is just a persona I take on with my other half-"

"Your other _half_?" I questioned in disbelief.

"Yeah my other half, my ghost half. I'm a halfa, half human half ghost. It happened a few years ago. My parents are avid ghost hunters and create new things all the time for ghost hunting and observing. They created this portal that connects both our world and the ghost world, otherwise known as the ghost zone. It's kind of complicated so I won't really get into that right now, but basically I went into the portal and it malfunctioned and well….here I am. Half ghost and fighting evil ghosts around town while my parents hunt me down and try to kill me."

I couldn't help but stare at Danny like he had grown to heads. Him being a ghost was hard enough to accept sometimes, but now he's also human? He's both? That's physically impossible. It defies everything I've ever learned about science, it just doesn't make sense! Yet here I am sitting in front of a boy who a moment ago was a ghost.

"I don't understand, how can this, I don't get, I just…wait your parents are trying to kill you?"

"Um..yeah. They're ghost hunters and I'm a ghost and well…they don't exactly know that I'm half ghost."

"You haven't told your parents? You just let them hunt you down and try to kill you? Oh my god." I just could not wrap my head around this. You would think after having a ghost best friend for the past 6 years I would learn to not be so shocked and surprised by things, but no.

"Yeah well, I'm the number one enemy in Amity Park." He joked.

"I can't believe you waited 6 years to tell me, Danny. 6 years, and here I am having told you everything and now I'm just learning about the biggest part of your life. You're human! You're a living, breathing, functioning human. How could you not tell me till now?"

"I'm sorry I just…I was nervous. The more people I tell, the more dangerous it becomes. It's not that I don't trust you though, because I do with my life; but I didn't know how you would react. I was afraid you'd want nothing to do with me anymore. I was afraid you'd leave me and honestly you're one of the best things to happen to me. Sam and Tucker are great, and so are my family when they're not trying to kill me, but you're the person I can always come to. You're the person who won't judge me no matter what, and the one I can confide in completely. Sometimes I feel like you know me more than I know myself, and I just didn't want to ruin that. I know I owe you so many explanations, and trust me I will explain all night if I have to, but I just didn't want to ruin what we have."

I couldn't help but be stunned into silence from his confession. He was that scared of losing me? He should know better, he should know I'd never leave him.

"Danny, you don't have to hide things from me. I'm not going to leave you, no matter what. This is hard, it's a lot to take in, but you're still my best friend. I still care about you, and this won't change anything."

"Really?"

"Really."

He beamed at me and I couldn't help but smile back at the baby blue eyed boy standing before me. Sure, it was going to take some getting used to but I knew it'd all turn out fine. He is my best, and only, friend after all. Danny spent the rest of the night telling me about his human life. To this day, it was one of the best nights of my life.

* * *

I was 16 when Danny told me he loved me. It felt like it had come out of nowhere, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. We'd been friends for 8 years now, and saw each other almost every day. After he told me his secret, I got to be even closer to him. I understood him better, and I think with letting me know his secret Danny let himself into the friendship even more, and with that he eventually started to have feelings for me. Over the past year he had started to bring my flowers every Friday. We would hold hands sometimes when watched the clouds or stars, and every night before he would leave he'd kiss me on the cheek for at least 3 heartbeats. Most of all, he always looked at me like I was the best thing he'd ever seen. He made me feel special, wanted, and even beautiful. I had never realized that, though, until he told me he loved me.

It was fall, and the leaves had fallen off all the trees in our forest. Sure, the forest itself wasn't a spectacular site, but the view of the stars was amazing. I could see them much better without all the leaves in the way, obstructing my view. Danny lay next to me, our fingers entwined as a comfortable silence fell upon us. He was just telling me about his hilarious encounter with the Box Ghost earlier that day.

"I love you."

It had come out so unexpected, so suddenly. It took me a moment to register what he had said, and when I did I looked at him with startled eyes.

"What?"

"I said I love you."

I was bewildered to say the least; I had no idea where that had come from or why he had said it. We weren't even dating, we hadn't even kissed! The fact there was nothing leading to it, no reason for him to say it, confused me. I could only think of one thing to say.

"How?"

"What do you mean how? How can I love you? I hope that's a joke, because how could I not? You're smart, beautiful, amazing, and you're the only person to ever fully accept me for me. You've accepted every part of me, and you've stuck by me these past 8 years. You never left, you were always there. You're the most amazing person I know, how could I not love you? I love everything about you. I love who you are, what you do, how you do things. I love you."

I was once again stunned into silence by the boy in front of me. No one has ever said such amazing things to me, nor have they ever said they loved me like that. I hadn't even realized I was crying until he put his thumb up to my cheek and whipped a tear away. All I wanted to do was tell him I love him, I wanted to say it back. Yet no matter how hard I tried, the words wouldn't come out. So I did the next best thing,

I kissed him.

* * *

The first time we made love, I was 18 years old. Since that night when I was 16, Danny and I began our strange relationship. I still hadn't met his friends, or his family. We had just done the same routine since I was 9, except now sometimes we kissed or made out. We held hands more often, and talked about our feelings more. Every night before Danny left, he would tell me he loved me; and I would smile and kiss him like I always do.

I promised myself that one day I would be able to say those words back, and every day I told myself today was not that day.

One night Danny told me to meet him in the forest an hour later than our usual time. I just figured he was running late with ghost things, but when I walked to our spot in the forest I couldn't believe my eyes. Candles were lit up everywhere, bathing the area in a subtle and relaxing glow. In the middle of the forest ground was a picnic blanket with a basket and a gorgeous set of white roses. I stared at the beautiful scene before me as Danny, in human form, stepped out from behind a bunch of trees dressed in a tuxedo and holding out a single red rose for me.

"Danny oh my god, I don't know what to say. What is this for? Am I missing something here?" It wasn't my birthday, or Christmas, and I don't think I missed any type of anniversary.

"I just wanted to do something nice for the girl I love, that's all." Danny gave me that million dollar heart melting smile and I couldn't help but smile back and accept the rose. Man did he look good in a tux, and with that thought I looked down at my worn T shirt and jeans and suddenly felt self-conscious.

"Danny, I think I'm a bit underdressed here. You could've given me a bit of a heads up."

"But then it wouldn't have been much of a surprise. Besides, you look beautiful." Danny looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life and I couldn't help but blush under his gaze. This entire set up was just so beautiful and amazing. We made our way hand in hand to the picnic blanket where he sat us down and then went to fetch what he brought in the picnic basket. He took out two glasses and gave one to me before taking out a bottle of champagne. He poured us both a decent amount before fetching some plates, forks, and knives from the basket and setting them in front of us. Lastly, he took out a container that looked full of spaghetti.

"Spaghetti? Really? How cheesy." I teased with a smile and I saw him get that cute little blush he does whenever I lightheartedly make fun of him.

"I thought it fit the night. It is a romantic food, after all." He said as if it was fact, and we both laughed as we sipped champagne and ate our dinner. Before I could even think about it, we had swiped everything off the picnic blanket, Danny on top of me as my back was pressed against the material and I felt soft lips brush against mine before firmly pressing down. Things seemed to be progressing fast, but I found myself wanting it. I knew where this was going, and I wanted it to. As if Danny sensed what I was thinking about, he stopped attacking my mouth and looked at me, his eyes full of concern.

"We can stop you know, if you want to. I don't want to pressure you into making a mistake and doing something you don't want to do seriously it's fine I don't want you to-"

"No," I cut him off "I want this. I want you. Make love to me, Danny." I stared right at him, letting him know without words that I wanted this and that I was okay with it. I wanted him to be my first.

"I love you. I love you so much." He muttered as he kissed down my neck. The rest of the night was spent with bodies pressed tightly together, passionate kisses being exchanged, and I love you's from one mouth being silenced with the other.

* * *

The last time I saw him, I was 19 years old. I didn't know it would be the last time I would ever see my ghost boy. I always thought of him as the constant in my life, the one thing that could never die, that could never leave me; but he did.

It was the night I was finally going to tell him, I was finally going to say those 3 words. I had spent hours getting ready, making myself as beautiful as I could for him. I had recreated the night from when we first made love. The same candles, champagne, and spaghetti. Everything was perfect as I stood waiting for him. I even remember making him promise to come that night.

"You promise to come back tomorrow?" He looked at me strange when I asked that, because he came back to me every night, but I just needed to make sure this time. This time was the most important time for him to be here. This time I would tell him I love him.

"I promise." He had said.

But he never came.

I thought he was mad at me, that he had stood me up. I was angry and upset; I had said things to the sky about him that I never thought I would say about him. I thought he had found someone else. I hadn't seen him in over a week. No word, no phone call, no text, nothing. He didn't want me anymore.

Yet I continued to go to our clearing in the forest day after day, hoping he'd return. I was always there on the hour, sometimes even before, and I would stay until I could see the sun begin to rise again. He still never came back.

It wasn't until the 14th day, 2 weeks since I'd seen him, that I had gotten a response; and to this day I would've preferred to be left wondering those horrible things than to have found out the truth. I had entered the clearing that night with no hopes, only to find a redheaded girl I had seen before in pictures. Pictures Danny had shown me. Except this girl looked tired, sad, and depressed. She didn't look like the happy go lucky girl Danny had shown me in pictures. Then again, I had never met Danny's sister in person. I stared at her, completely baffled as to why she was here. She didn't even know I existed. I was so lost in thought I hadn't even notice her approaching me.

"You must be her. I'm Jazz, umm…Danny's…Danny's sister." She seemed to choke on her words, her eyes welling up with tears as she held out her hand to me. I was completely confused as I took her hand and we shook.

"Nice to meet you, uh…did Danny send you?" I asked.

"Kind of. I really don't know how to say this but um, something happened. Something horrible." Then Jazz went on to tell me a very lengthy story. One filled with tears and heartbreak and suffering.

She went on to tell me about Danny's death.

Before she could finish talking I had collapsed onto the ground in a heap of sobs. This couldn't be real. This can't be possible, he's already half ghost for heaven's sake! He. _Can't_. Die. Yet, the more I thought about it the more I realized he could. He's still half human, a part of him is still alive and he constantly puts himself in danger; and the more I thought about it the harder I cried until I could hardly breathe anymore. I could hardly comprehend anything going on around me; all I could think about was Danny, his smile, his face, his voice.

I would never get to experience those things again.

I was so wrapped up in my heartbreak and grief I almost missed what Jazz was saying to me.

"…letter and so I followed what he said and that's how I found you."

"What? Letter?" I choked out.

"Yeah, the letter Danny had written when he was 14 and left under his bed. I found it a couple days ago. It was all about you. Your name, where you are, where to find you if….if something happens. He wanted to make sure you would know. He wrote it so long ago, I wasn't sure if you two still talked or anything, especially since I'd never been told about you. But I decided to come anyway and see for myself, because if you deserve to know and well here you are. He loved you, you know. He really loved you. I could tell by his letter, but even more so I saw it on his face every day for the past few years. He never said anything about a girl; he had not once mentioned you. I tried to get him to but it just never came out, but you'd have to be blind to miss the look of being in love he had on his face every day. You were the best thing that had ever happened to him."

I just stared at her. I wanted to thank her for coming here, for telling me, but instead I did something stupid. I ran. She called after me but I kept running and didn't stop until I ran to the apartment I had gotten a few weeks prior. I was going to tell Danny I loved him and then I was going to ask if he wanted to move in with me, considering we both go to Amity University. Now this apartment felt cold and dark and lonely. I had never felt so hurt, so alone before.

I didn't leave for weeks, not until I knew the funeral was over and that I could visit and be alone. Alone at his grave.

I had picked up 11 white roses from the local flower shop, and then a single red rose. Just like the ones Danny had given me the night we first made love. I was silent as I left the shop. I was silent as I walked to the cemetery. I was silent as I walked up to his grave, and I was silent until I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I hate you! I hate you I hate you I HATE YOU! You said you'd never leave me! You said you'd always be there! How could you do this to me? I TRUSTED YOU!" I screamed at the grave, hoping that something, no, _someone_, would scream back; but no one did.

"I hate you. I hate you so much. I hate you I hate you I hate you I love you I love you so much and I never got to tell you. You stupid, stupid boy. This was never supposed to happen. You promised me you'd come back. You said you never broke a promise." I had never felt so heartbroken, so hurt. Danny had been my entire life for the past 12 years. He had been my first everything, and he had been the one person that was always there for me.

Now he was gone, and he wasn't coming back; and for the first time in 12 years since I met the ghost boy, I felt truly alone again. I had no one left anymore. I had no desire to befriend his family, his friends. It would hurt too much. I was completely alone. I never even got to let him know how I felt. I never got to tell him I love him. He had told me that over and over again the past 4 years and not once could I say it back.

It wasn't until the day he died that I was able to return those words to him. Funny how life works, isn't it?


End file.
